


To capture a Tornado

by CMA6725



Series: Of Men and Legends [4]
Category: Zorro (TV 1990), Zorro - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Tricksters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29632773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CMA6725/pseuds/CMA6725
Summary: When Felipe goes out to exercise Tornado one night, he gets himself and the stallion into trouble. Zorro's steed is taken by the Alcalde and the injured masked man must find a way to save one of his vaqueros without fighting.
Series: Of Men and Legends [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177262
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

With a new wound making it impossible to use one of his arms to any level of adequacy, Zorro was again sidelined for at least two weeks. Or, at least, that was what Diego decided would be necessary healing time. His one consolation was that, after the story of how he had rescued his father and Victoria became public knowledge, the people again knew that their hero was alive.

"Eight years!" Diego told Felipe in frustration about two evenings after he had been shot, while his son was checking on his wound. "Not one single gunshot wound in eight years and now I've received two in only one month. I must be getting old!"

The younger man laughed and signed that Diego was barely 32 years old, which was, by no means 'old'.

"Yes…I know. I know you are right, Felipe. Still…eight years. All this time and I am no closer to putting away the mask than I was when I started all of this! Victoria is already 27. How long am I supposed to have her wait for me? Until her beautiful black hair turns grey and she can no longer have the family she so wishes for?" The older caballero wondered.

*You do this every time you are injured or ill!* Felipe signaled.

"Do what?" his father asked.

*Put yourself down. Find excuses…If you don't want to be Zorro anymore, you can just stop being him!*

"You're right…" the tall caballero conceded. "But I can't give up yet. If my information is correct, Mexico might soon become independent and California with it. If that happens, the people will be free to choose their alcaldes and Zorro will no longer be needed. I just have to be patient…and make sure I don't get shot again!" he sighed and smiled. "At least, my father is gone for another day, which gives me a little more time to recover. With some luck, if I just rest it for one or two more days, at least, I will be able to move the arm enough for nobody to notice I've been injured. Until then, though, it's still up to you to exercise Tornado."

Felipe grinned and, finishing changing the bandage after making sure the wound had not gotten infected, he went to saddle the black stallion.

"Use the other saddle, Felipe!" Diego asked him. "There's always a chance that somebody might see you and you don't use a mask. I'd rather nobody associates you with the most famous horse in Los Angeles."

His son nodded and left the cave a few minutes later, after Diego asked him to be back in an hour.

Felipe headed a few miles east, where the terrain was flat enough for him to let the stallion gallop at full speed, enjoying the feeling that riding the fastest horse in the territory gave him. After about thirty minutes like that, as they reached a small lake, the young man eventually dismounted, taking the saddle off, and allowed Tornado to roam free, while he took off his clothes and went for a swim.

He was focusing on exercising his freestyle, determined to win the next race he'd have with Diego, when he was startled to find himself before three mounted men, looking straight at his naked form emerging from the lake, as their horses were quenching their thirst.

"Don Felipe? Is that you?" Pedro, one of Don Alejandro's vaqueros asked from the middle of the group.

The young man remembered in the nick of time that he was not supposed to hear and there was not enough light to read lips, so he signed that he doesn't understand, wondering how to explain Tornado's presence just a few hundred feet away without giving his father up.

"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" the man insisted, yet soon realized the younger man could not possibly answer him so he just signed for Felipe to get out.

He was embarrassed to do that, since he was completely naked, and was relieved when one of the other vaqueros drew Pedro's attention towards a certain magnificent black stallion. As all three men became preoccupied with watching Tornado run around freely, Felipe hurriedly got out of the lake and got dressed.

At that point, Pedro noticed Felipe's own stallion was nowhere around so, taking one of the lamps they had with them to his face, he looked at the young man and asked him where his horse was.

Felipe replied that it was at the hacienda and he had come on foot there.

"Walking? Four miles in the middle of the night?" Pedro tried to be sure he was understanding right.

*Not walking! Running.* Felipe clarified. *I like running at night…and swimming. It's harder to do either of them during the day since I became Don Diego's son.* he continued.

"Yes…I can see that." Pedro replied. "But I'd rather you ride with us back to the hacienda, or Don Diego will never forgive us for leaving you here!"

"Pedro…Should we catch him?" Pablo, one of the other vaqueros asked referring to Tornado. "He's quite beautiful."

"He looks an awful lot like Tornado." The third man, Jose, pointed out.

"It can't be him! Zorro would not just let his stallion run free in the middle of nowhere with no supervision!" Pablo pointed out.

"You might be right!" Pedro agreed. "Let's try to catch him and we'll take him to the hacienda's stables. Don Alejandro will have a pleasant surprise tomorrow at seeing him."

Felipe could do nothing but watch as the vaqueros surrounded the stallion and lassoed him. Seeing how he was in no mood to be captured by the three unfamiliar men, Tornado reared nervously, scaring one of his captors' young mares into throwing off her rider. Jose almost ended up under the stallion's hoofs, had the youngest De la Vega not heroically intervened, putting himself in the way of the steed's rage, while giving Jose time to get himself off of the ground. Pedro and Pablo watched with angst as their young master was about to be violently thrown to the ground with a fast kick. Felipe, however, moved fast, avoiding the blow in the nick of time, just before, recognizing him, Tornado suddenly calmed down.

"How did you do that, Felipe?" Pablo asked him, but Felipe pretended not to hear, hoping the men will not realize that the horse was familiar with him.

ZZZ

Diego started pacing the cave about an hour and a half after his son had left. He had done his best to be patient, but was starting to fear something bad had happened. Leaving a note and a loaded flare gun, so that Felipe might be able to warn him if he returned to the cave while he was out searching for him, he exited the library and headed for the main door. Diego was considering how to saddle Esperanza with an almost useless arm, just as he saw the vaqueros were entering the courtyard, stopping a few feet away from him.

"Pedro! Pablo! Jose!" Diego exclaimed, at seeing the three of them. "I wasn't expecting you till tomorrow! Where's my father?"

"We sold all the cattle this afternoon." Pablo informed him. "Don Alejandro stayed at the tavern in San Bernardino with Fernando and Juan for the night, but we decided to return sooner. Were you also about to go swimming, patron?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Yes…like Felipe. We met him at the lake east of here…" Pedro uttered, pointing towards Felipe who was mounted with Jose.

"Thank God!" Diego uttered at just noticing him in the dim light. "I was afraid something happened! I was just about to saddle Esperanza to go find you!"

"You knew where he was, patron?" Jose asked.

"Of course, Pedro!" Diego answered, knowing quite well his son's favorite spots "I was only worried because he was gone longer than usual…otherwise I wouldn't have been preoccupied."

"I do have to admit it was fortunate that we ran into Felipe, or Jose might be dead." Pedro surprised Diego by confessing.

"Really? What did he do?" the caballero wondered, half-looking at his son.

"We tried to capture a wild stallion and he almost killed him, had it not been for this brave young man. You should have seen him, Don Diego!" Pedro replied. "He just put himself in the path of the steed's hoofs and he stopped before inflicting any harm. He's been quite tamed afterward. "

"What wild stallion?"

"There he is, patron!" Pablo replied pointing at Tornado.

"Pablo…that's not a wild stallion…It's a half-wild one." Diego pointed out, recognizing his horse.

"You also think that's Tornado, Don Diego?" Jose wondered.

"I'm rather sure he is. Don't you think Zorro might be missing his horse?"

"He can't be Tornado, Don Diego!" Pablo stated. "He was running free, with no saddle and no one to supervise him, on the De la Vega lands, a few miles east. If that was Zorro's horse, he wouldn't have let him roam free like that!"

"Even if he is…" Pedro decided "I'm sure Don Alejandro will still be glad with the chance to have a closer look at him when he returns, tomorrow. He will make for a nice surprise."

The tall caballero carefully considered what to do in order to avoid looking suspicious, especially since his men could easily realize that Felipe was the one supervising Tornado.

"I'm sorry, Pedro," he decided to say "but if this is, as I suspect, Tornado, should the Alcalde find out he is here we might all get arrested and hanged as Zorro's accomplices. That's not something I want."

"I know how to be certain, Don Diego!" Jose suggested. "We'll get Senorita Escalante to have a look at him. I'm sure she'll know if it's Tornado!"

"It's eleven in the evening, Jose. This is no hour to disturb Victoria. I'd rather you just let him go!"

"Si, patron!" Jose eventually seemed to agree. "I will take him to where we found him and set him free. If Zorro is looking for him, there's where he'll look!"

"Just set him free here. I'm sure he'll find his way home!" Diego suggested and his men nodded sadly and exited the courtyard to set the stallion free.

As soon as they were gone, Diego and Felipe went to the cave, waiting for the Tornado to make his way back. Twenty minutes later, though, he had still not returned, so Diego went back outside to look for the vaqueros and find out if they did as asked.

"Pedro, Pablo!" he greeted when he found them having a late dinner in their kitchen. "Where is Jose? Have you done as I asked?"

"Si, patron! We let the horse go just outside the courtyard and Jose went home to check on his family." Pablo lied.

Diego gave them a piercing look they could not understand, but he could not simply say he did not believe them because the stallion had not returned home. He suspected it might have been Jose who had taken Tornado, but he no longer had a reason, as Diego, to ask for the stallion to be released. He, thus decided he needed to go as Zorro the following day, hoping his left arm will have healed enough by then and not throb too much.

However, since Zorro did not have a horse and there was always the chance that he would meet with a patrol, he first needed to make sure his suspicions were correct and Jose had, indeed, taken Tornado.

So, after waking up a little earlier than usual but not very early, so as not to arouse any suspicion, he and Felipe had breakfast together, as normal, then took the wagon informing the servants that they were taking some donations to an Indian village which happened to be in the same direction as Jose's house.

When they arrived, though, the house was empty and there was no black stallion in the corral. Diego jumped down from the wagon and went to inspect the place, as Felipe waited for him.

"We might be too late." his father told him with a frown after studying the imprints on the ground. "We need to go to the pueblo. I think the lancers have already been here!"

ZZZ

Diego was, unfortunately, right. A lancer who had been sent early in the morning with a message from the Alcalde to his counterpart in San Bernardino had noticed the stallion in Jose's corral. Hoping to get the rewards for Zorro's capture, he decided to abandon his mission and return with the news to the pueblo. Less than half an hour later, the vaquero and his wife were being arrested and the stallion confiscated.

"Alcalde" Mendoza complained "we just repaired the cuartel's courtyard after the last time Tornado was here! Please, Alcalde, let's just set him free and cut our losses, before something bad happens!"

"Don't be so melodramatic, Sergeant!" De Soto replied. "I have no intention of keeping that beast! All we need to do is find the perfect spot for an ambush. When Zorro will go for his horse, we'll be ready and he'll have no escape!"

"But I thought you just arrested Jose for being Zorro! Isn't that why you ordered us to build the scaffold in the plaza?"

"Oh, don't be a simpleton, Mendoza! Jose is not Zorro. I actually tend to believe the story he told us about finding Tornado and taking him home! But, even so, he still makes for the perfect trap for our masked fiend. He needs a reason to come and he'll need his stallion to make an escape, after setting the two Montoyas free, as he is certain to do. And I, Sergeant, I will be the one to finally capture Zorro!" De Soto stated with glee in his voice.


	2. Chapter 2

Tornado's neighs were easy to hear as soon as one passed by the garrison. Diego gave Felipe a worried look and, stopping the wagon behind the tavern, the two of them made their way towards the taproom.

"Buenos dias, Victoria!" Diego greeted as they entered.

"Don Diego! Don Felipe!" she greeted the two, glad to see them. "Did you come to help Jose?"

"No…we were heading to the Indian village southeast of the pueblo and we decided to stop for a late breakfast and a glass of juice. But why would Jose need help?" Diego inquired.

"Because the Alcalde found Tornado in his corral and had him arrested for being Zorro. He and his wife are to be hanged!"

"What?" Diego exclaimed. "He can't be serious!"

"Please do something, Don Diego! Jose cannot possibly be Zorro!" Victoria begged him.

"No, that is quite ridiculous to believe." The caballero confirmed. "I'll talk to the Alcalde." He assured Victoria.

As he said that, he crossed the plaza and entered the office without even bothering to knock and ask for permission to enter.

"Buenos dias, Don Diego! What can I do for you?" De Soto greeted him, proving to be in a very good mood.

"Ignacio, you can't seriously think Jose Montoya is Zorro!" Diego simply stated.

"My men did find that black stallion of his in Jose's corral, which makes him, at least, Zorro's accomplice, for taking care of his horse."

"The black horse he found last night?" Diego asked. "You believe he's Tornado? Ignacio, he had no idea! There was no saddle on the horse, nor any other indication he could be Zorro's."

"So, you knew about the horse, Don Diego?" Ignacio questioned, wondering if he had the chance to set an even better trap. After all, Zorro always did come to the help of the De la Vegas.

"He and two of my other vaqueros came to the hacienda last evening dragging a black stallion they had just captured." Diego thought it best to tell the verifiable truth. "They thought to impress my father upon his return later today. It had almost killed Jose when they caught him! When I saw it I decided he looked a little too much like Tornado, so I asked them to let it go, just in case he proved to be him. I have no intention to be accused of complicity with Zorro!"

De Soto frowned and considered his options. "Then why did he keep it, if you said he should let him go?"

"I don't know. My men were thinking of taking it back to where they found it. Perhaps they didn't want to do it at that hour and decided to wait till morning. Maybe they still decided to show it to my father." He suggested. "Either way, there's no reason for you to arrest him or his wife."

"Perhaps…But there might, as well, be another explanation for why he kept the horse, even admitting he is not Zorro…which, he might still prove to be. Perhaps your man knows exactly who Zorro is and kept the stallion to return it to him. In any case, unless he gives me his name, I'll still have to hang him as an accomplice to an outlaw!"

"How can he tell you Zorro's name if nobody knows it? Alcalde…"

"I've heard enough, Don Diego!" De Soto stopped him. "Unless you want to spend some time in my jail, I'd suggest you go about your business!"

Diego frowned, nodded with a defiant look on his face, and left without saying goodbye, heading back to the tavern.

"The man is stubborn as a mule!" He exclaimed at returning to the taproom and taking a seat in front of Felipe.

"You did not manage to convince him to let Jose and his wife go?" Victoria asked.

"No, Victoria. I think the only one who can convince the Alcalde to do anything is Zorro!"

"Si…but, Diego…" Victoria muttered as she sat down next to Felipe "Zorro was injured when he saved your father. He might not be in a condition to help this time!"

The two caballeros quickly finished their breakfast and then exited the tavern, just in time to see the Alcalde, Mendoza, and fifteen lancers, together with Jose, exiting the cuartel, dragging the enraged Tornado behind them.

"What are you doing with Jose?" Diego asked De Soto.

"It's none of your business, De la Vega! So stay out of it!" He answered.

Diego looked after them inquisitively, as a sly smile crept its way across his face.

"Aren't you going to do something, Diego?" Victoria asked him.

"I think we'll have to postpone our plans for today, Felipe." he stated loudly enough for everyone on the tavern's terrace to hear him. "I'll be going to Santa Paula to talk to Judge De la Paz. I'll be back by tomorrow."

As he said that, the two headed for the wagon, then made their way towards the hacienda.

*What are we going to do?* Felipe asked when he saw that Diego was smiling.

"Nothing yet, Felipe." He stated. "The only reason the Alcalde has left with so many soldiers, Tornado and Jose is because he believes he can set up a trap for Zorro. Since I'm in no condition to fight so many lancers, we'll let them wait for a while. Sooner or later, De Soto will consider that Zorro isn't coming and he'll have to amend his plan."

*How?* Felipe asked.

"If I know him well enough, he'll try to use Jose and his wife to force my hand. That, however, will leave him with fewer men guarding Tornado. Here's what we'll do." Diego clarified and proceeded to tell Felipe his plan.

ZZZ

"He's not coming Alcalde! We've been here for five hours, already!" Mendoza complained from behind a bush overlooking the meadow where Tornado was tied up, with a long rope, to a stake firmly implanted into the ground.

"You might be right, Sergeant." De Soto agreed. "Perhaps he realized this was a trap. Take Jose and eight of the lancers and head back to town. He and his wife will hang at sunset. Make sure everyone knows about the execution!"

"But, Alcalde, didn't you say he wasn't Zorro?"

"He might still be his accomplice, Sergeant! He was, after all, hiding his horse. Besides, Zorro is sure to intervene to stop the execution, so have your men ready to give chase. Without his stallion, he won't be able to escape this time. So, either he falls into my trap when he comes for the horse, or he does so when he goes, without him, to save the Montoyas. I'll get my hands on him either way!" De Soto replied with a very genuine smile on his face.

Mendoza doubted it, certain that Zorro would find a way around his superior's trap, but had no choice other than to do what he was ordered.

ZZZ

In the meantime, Diego and Felipe made their way back towards the hacienda, from where Diego left just half an hour later, mounted on Esperanza, and made his way towards the cave, where his son was already waiting for him.

ZZZ

Don Alejandro arrived at the hacienda during the siesta to find Felipe in the library, reading. As soon as he found out about everything that had happened since the previous evening, he took his grandson and made his way to the pueblo, decided to talk the Alcalde into freeing the Montoyas or, at least, delay the execution until Diego would be back with the judge.

ZZZ

"Buenas tardes, Alcalde!" Zorro wished De Soto, from atop a dark brown horse that almost seemed black.

De Soto stared at him, then glanced to see that his stallion was still in the meadow, and ordered Sepulveda and Sanchez to guard him while he guided the others in pursuit of the masked outlaw. Two miles away, Zorro guided his horse down a small canyon. Up until then, De Soto was certain he was about to catch him, but was amazed to discover that he had been wrong as he saw his nemesis riding his dark brown horse, at least half a mile away from them.

"How did he get there?" He asked his men as they forced their horses at full speed to give chase.

Another two miles and, as they were, once more, closing in on Zorro, certain he was just behind a hill, the masked man again surprisingly teleported over half a mile away. The chase continued about two more hours, De Soto and his men not realizing they were going around in circles. Suddenly, Zorro vanished for a few minutes, only to appear on a nearby hill, mounted on Tornado.

"Here, Alcalde!" He drew Ignacio's attention after enjoying a few minutes of watching their frustration at searching for him.

"How did you get there?" De Soto asked him. "And how are you on Tornado, if Tornado is being guarded by my men, several miles from here?"

"Do you really believe I would lose my horse, Alcalde? I don't know what horse your men are guarding, but, as you can see, it's certainly not Tornado!"

As he said that, he gave him a smug look and his Zorro salute and headed for the pueblo.

"He's been having us run in circles, Alcalde!" One of his men finally realized and informed his commander, just as an explosion was heard less then half a mile east form their location.

"Return to the meadow!" De Soto ordered, realizing they had been tricked and that the steep incline of the hill made it at least hard to continue the useless chase.

When they returned, they found the two men guarding the stallion looking at each other with some confusion.

"What happened?" He asked.

The two stared at each other "We don't know, Alcalde!" Sepulveda answered. "There was an explosion and we w.."

"Went to investigate. It was just there!" Sanchez stopped his companion in the nick of time, indicating a place some twenty feet away.

"How is the stallion still here? I just saw Zorro mounted on him." he asked as he dismounted to have a better look at the horse. "This is not Tornado, you morons!" he noted as he got next to the stallion who was dark brown instead of black. "Who was here? How did he manage to pull the switch when we were chasing him?"

"There was no one here, Alcalde." Sanchez stated.

"Nobody!" Sepulveda confirmed, glancing at his companion, unwilling to let his superior know they had been sleeping on the job.

"Then how do you explain this? I gave you a black stallion to guard and this one is dark brown!" Ignacio asked, feeling that fumes were coming out of his ears.

"It's, perhaps, because of how the light falls, Alcalde. It looks differently…" Sepulveda ventured to explain.

"The light? That is something you two will not see for a month, considering you'll be on latrine duty!" He stated and asked them to return to the pueblo, taking the stallion with them.

ZZZ

Meanwhile, in town, Don Alejandro was trying to convince Mendoza to delay the execution, threatening menacingly that Judge De la Paz will make sure to severely punish him and the Alcalde, should Jose and his wife be hung without a fair trial. Mendoza did not want to order the execution but still considered that he had to ask the lancers to bring the two spouses to the scaffold.

De Soto thus made his entrance to the pueblo, the stallion behind his men, just as Jose and his crying wife were being led to the gallows. It was also the moment Zorro chose to enter the pueblo at full speed, from the opposite direction, in the people's cheers dispersing the lancers in the way of his stallion.

"Alcalde!" he called just as he got near the man, his sword at De Soto's throat. "I see you still sentence innocent people to the gallows! I had hoped your own recent brush with death might have changed you, but I see now that I was wrong!"

"Hiding your stallion is a crime, Zorro! It makes the person who does that your accomplice." The white-haired man answered.

"But it was not my stallion Jose was hiding. As everyone can see, that stallion your men are dragging behind is certainly not Tornado…unless you believe a horse can be in two places at the same time, that is! I wonder what Judge De la Paz will think about your decision to execute innocent men and a woman, when Don Diego comes back with him tomorrow. I'm quite certain he'll make sure to return you to Madrid in chains for such abuse!"

De Soto swallowed hard, realizing that, again, Zorro was to escape capture.

"Release them! The Montoyas are innocent!" He stated. "But you, Zorro… I will still see you in my jail!" he then menaced.

"Wouldn't you rather not see me at all, ever again? All you have to do, Alcalde, is govern these good people justly!" He replied with a confident smile as he slashed a Z on his pristine tunic. "Just a reminder." He mentioned, referring to his mark. "And, Alcalde…give Jose back his horse!"

Turning towards Victoria, he saluted her and, with an "Adios!" he exited the pueblo before the lancers got to shoot after him.

ZZZ

Taking the long route to the hacienda, Zorro stopped at a cave along the way, where two riders were hiding, waiting for him.

"Very well done, senores!" he congratulated them.

"Gracias, Senor Zorro!" Pablo replied, handing him two sets of black Zorro costumes. "Are Jose and his wife safe?"

"The charges against them were dropped, so they should be fine!" he answered. "I appreciate your assistance, but everything could have been avoided if you'd have known better than to capture my stallion."

"We're very sorry, senor! We will never do anything like that again. We were just hoping we'd get to show it to Don Alejandro. He'd love the opportunity to have a closer look at him."

"I doubt, however, he would also love the opportunity to have a closer look at one of your dead bodies! HDid you even consider what would have happened if I was injured and could not help your friend? Or if I was away, trying to come to someone else's aid? Next time, better weigh the consequences of your actions!" He stated as he turned around to leave them. "Adios, senores!"

ZZZ

About half an hour later, Felipe entered the cave, just as Diego was buttoning up his shirt.

"Our plan worked perfectly, Felipe!" He told him. "Pedro and Pablo had the Alcalde and his men running circles, while I replaced Tornado with Aramis. The ether worked perfectly and the time-delay bomb woke up the lancers just in time. De Soto must still be scratching his head trying to understand what had happened."

*Grandfather sent me to Santa Paula after you.* Felipe gestured. *He hoped I would catch up with you before you get there, since there's no longer the need for the judge to come.*

"Excellent! Then we don't have to sleep here! We can just pretend that we've returned a few hours from now. Tell me, Felipe! Did Father recognize Aramis when the Alcalde brought him to town?"

Felipe nodded and signed that Don Alejandro had recognized his stallion but said nothing until they were alone, riding back to the hacienda.

"How about my arm? Did anybody realize I was injured?"

His son shook his head, then asked how he was feeling.

"Weak. The pain in my arm is worse than this morning, but I'll live."

*I'm sorry! It's all my fault!* Felipe blamed himself.

"No, son! It was not your fault. Our men shouldn't have decided to capture Tornado. At least, I made sure they will not do anything like that again!" Diego assured him. "So…what should we do till it's time to go back to the house?"

Felipe signed that he needed to stable Tornado and afterward he'd like to learn Poker.

"Very well, Felipe. But you must promise me to only play for fun, and never for money."

The younger man nodded and headed for Tornado's stable.

Some four hours later, when it was almost midnight, Diego and Felipe made their way into the hacienda.

"Father!" the former exclaimed at seeing the old don. "What are you doing still up?"

"Waiting for the two of you, son!" Don Alejandro answered as he got up to embrace Diego pressing on his wound. His son tensed and grimaced in pain, but his reaction went unnoticed.

"I have to tell you all about Zorro's latest antics!" His father decided and managed to prevent the two of them from going to sleep, by recounting a cobbled up story about their own plan, which Diego decided to be about 35% accurate.


End file.
